Baz Luhrmann is preparing a film about Joan of Arc. With Jenna Ortega?

The actress recently expressed her dream of playing the Maid of France. But the casting remains open.

What would the story of Joan of Arc give to the sauce? Baz Luhrmann – with its baroque and rococo spirit, and its overflowing modernity? This is a question that was not asked until today. After his musicals and musical biopics (Moulin Rouge, Elvis), and its revisited literary adaptations (Romeo + Juliet, The Great Gatsby), the filmmaker changes course, but not register, and tackles one of the great heroines of French history.

Announced by Deadlinethe new project could be called JeanneOr Joan of Arc – a slight spelling variation that denotes a coming metamorphosis – and will be carried by Warner Bros. An emblematic figure of the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc leads the troops, guided according to her by divine voices, lifts the siege of Orléans in the 15th century, allows Charles VII to be crowned king in Reims, and ends up captured, tried for heresy and burned at the stake.

A cultural icon who has inspired many filmmakers, she cultivates a regular and popular appearance in cinema. In 1999, she was notably embodied by Milla Jovovich under the direction of Luc Besson in Joan of Arcsurrounded by Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, John Malkovitch and Vincent Cassel.

Joan of Arc is not Baz Luhrmann's first historical project. In 2002, in the wave of peplums, the director became interested in the figure of Alexander the Great – a famous figure from Antiquity. This feature film was to be “the most important epic film ever made.” In the cast, in the role of the main character, we would have found Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mel Gibson in that of the father. But while at the same time Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street) has the same idea, it is decided that if Baz Luhrmann wants to do the same, he will have to speed up production. Faced with the rush, he ends up abandoning the project.

So he comes back with another part of our History, several centuries later. Who will play the Maid of Orleans? The casting has started, but there is already one for whom the news must not have gone unnoticed.

A week later, we learned that the dream of Jenna Ortega was to play Joan of Arc in the cinema. During the promotion of Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceshe revealed her four favorite films which were part of The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer, released in 1928:

“Renée Falconetti's performance is absolutely crazy. Playing Joan of Arc would be a dream come true for me.”

Will her dream come true? For now, no name has been announced, but if the actress, already very popular since the series Wednesdaymanages to stand out, she will be able to obtain recognition similar to that of her elders, including Austin Butler, crowned BAFTA for best actor.

Austin Butler: “I still speak with Elvis' voice sometimes…”